Formula E: What we learnt from pre-season testing

Back in October, all 22 drivers took to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo for pre-season testing ahead of the Season 10 opener of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Mexico City.

The pre-season test in Valencia is the first, and only, time the teams will get to stretch their legs before the first race of the season in January, and fans can expect another unpredictable season as 19 of the 21 drivers on-track in the final session set fastest-lap times all within just 0.7 seconds.

Combined totals of 4,960 laps and 16,745km were accumulated by drivers and rookies who took to the track alongside the main team drivers ahead of Season 10. That included Gabriela Jílkova, who became the first woman to drive the GEN3 with a 46-lap run as TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team rookie.

Mitch Evans set the fastest time of the week in the very first session as the Jaguar TCS Racing driver’s 1m24.474s outpaced Maximilian Guenther’s 2022 record by more than half a second. In fact, the top seven runners on Tuesday morning were all inside the quickest time set by Guenther in the new GEN3 race car when it was introduced in pre-season testing a year ago.

Making his on-track debut for Jaguar TCS Racing, Nick Cassidy set the quickest lap time on Friday of 1m24.617s, stopping Evans from claiming the top time in all three sessions.

A 10-hour session on Friday began with a 27-lap race simulation giving teams and drivers the ability to test a full race program including the first run-throughs for fast-charging pitstops, as well as caution and Safety Car periods.

Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns led the pack over the line at the chequered flag having made it by TAG Heuer Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa in the final few laps. Evans also pushed past the Portuguese to finish second.

Da Costa finished the week with his quickest lap time matching Cassidy’s while Sebastien Buemi was the fourth fastest with 1m24.641s.

Maximilian Günther had been quickest in three of the last four tests in the Spanish city and the Maserati MSG Racing driver had set the pace last year. This time, he finished fifth with 1m24.658s.

Mahindra Racing’s Edoardo Mortara was next with 1m24.701s. This was a remarkable effort by the team given the challenges they faced following damage to some of their support equipment after a localised fire in the pit lane earlier in the week.

Defending Formula E world champion, Jake Dennis, driving the No.1 car for Andretti Formula E team finished in 12th spot with a best time of 1min24.827s.